Get iPhone 6s Live Wallpapers On iPhone 6 Or Older Devices

Apple’s new iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus come with the ability to set animated backgrounds. Unlike the Live Wallpapers that have been available on Android for years or the Dynamic walls introduced in iOS 7, these new “Live” backgrounds aren’t in constant motion and only come to life when one hard-presses an empty space on the lock screen.

Now, that sounds like a feature that could easily be ported over to older iOS 9-compatible devices, or at least the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus if performance is a concern. The aforementioned “hard-press” is tied to the new iPhone duo’s pressure sensitive touchscreen technology that Apple calls 3D Touch, and although recently released jailbreak tweaks have proved there are software alternatives to the new hardware setup, we all know Apple is a stickler for user experience uniformity across its ecosystem. The company also never compromises on quality, and as awesome as 3D Touch-mimicking Cydia tweaks are, they just can’t clone the real thing perfectly with just code.

The general user, on the other hand, is more than willing to make that compromise for a wallpaper feature, especially if it costs nothing.

A new Cydia tweak called LiveWallEnabler enables iOS 9’s live wallpaper feature on older, iOS 9-compatible iPhones, allowing you to use animated wallpapers from the 6s and 6s Plus. The package itself does not come with these wallpapers. It merely unlocks their compatibility with the OS, adding a Live category to wallpaper settings, so you will have to download and install these separately. Fortunately for you, we’re going to explain how to do just that.

Guide

1. If you haven’t installed LiveWallEnabler yet, do so now. Launch Cydia on your iPhone and select Sources > Edit > Add, and enter the following: repo.fortysixandtwo.com. You should now be able to find and install the tweak from the Search tab. Tap Restart Springboard when it’s done installing.

2. On your computer, download one of the two .deb packages linked below.

Note: These files contain 6s Live wallpapers in two resolutions – one for the iPhone 6s and the other for the larger screen of the 6s Plus. If you have an iPhone 6 or an older model with an even smaller screen, the first package should give you the best results.

3. While the files are downloading, launch Cydia and search for “iFile”. Open the iFile page and install the app, ignoring any incompatibility prompts that may appear.

4. Launch iFile and enable the Web Server by tapping the globe icon at the bottom.

5. On your computer, launch any browser and enter the web address provided by iFile to wirelessly browse your iPhone’s file system. Remember, your computer and iPhone need to be on the same WiFi network for this to work.

6. Within the browser, click the Choose file button below, look for and select the .deb file you downloaded earlier, then click Upload. We uploaded the file to the root directory, but you can select one that suits you.

8. Once the upload is done, within the iFile app, select Done from the top-right corner of the screen, then navigate to the root directory by tapping the back button in the top-left corner twice (you’ll find yourself in var/mobile by default).

9. Scroll down to find the .deb file you just uploaded, select it and hit Installer followed by Done. You can delete the .deb file now.

10. Close iFile, open the Settings app and navigate to its Wallpaper section. You should find the wallpapers available for use within a new Live section. Set a wallpaper and long-press an empty space on the lock screen to animate!

We tested the tweak along with the iPhone 6s Live wallpaper package on an iPhone 5 running iOS 9.0.2 with some minor issues. The wallpapers extended beyond the edges of the screen due to the device sporting a resolution much lower than that of the iPhone 6 and 6s, but they still looked awesome. The Live selection within wallpaper settings was cut off from the right edge as well, though it can still be accessed. There was a noticeable lag when animating certain wallpapers for the first time, a problem that isn’t likely to plague the iPhone 6 or 6 Plus.

I'm an engineer, blogger, and graphic designer who loves creating and experimenting with different forms of online content when he's not looking for a mix of inspiration and escape in PC gaming, comic books and anime. You can find me on Twitter and Google+.